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BlueInGreen - Jon
BlueInGreen - Jon UltraDork
4/29/22 11:02 p.m.

Things I don't have much experience with:

Legit rust repair, carburetor stuff, pre-80s cars.

I like learning and I learn by doing so...

...that got dropped off today.

Been a busy day, more later.

birdmayne
birdmayne GRM+ Memberand Reader
4/30/22 12:01 a.m.

Don't leave us hanging! These are ultra cool! What's the plan? Restoration? Restomod? 

BlueInGreen - Jon
BlueInGreen - Jon UltraDork
4/30/22 3:38 p.m.

My plan? I'm not sure yet.  It won't be a race car but I like the idea of a budget restoration while adding some upgrades.  Maybe front disc brakes and an engine swap, stuff like that.  But I'll probably try to get the original engine running first.

Our 10 yr old kid thinks its super cool and she is excited to help work on it.  It might even move under its own power by the time she's old enough to drive, lol.

The general goal here is to have a project that I can work on long term, something that I can enjoy working on even if it's just 30 minutes tinkering in the garage on a Saturday afternoon.  No specific timelines, no rushing to get it back together for an upcoming track day, no deferring maintenance because I have to drive it to work on Monday.  I'm hoping to use this as a full-on learning experience by taking the time to do things myself (and then probably re-doing because I've never done a lot of this before,) scrounging for parts, buying tools to fabricate things instead of ordering stuff off the internet, etc.  I'm not sure how much is available for these cars so some of that will probably be needed anyway.

Job one will be getting it moved into its new home.  We're in the process (and quite a process it's been) of buying our first house and will probably end up moving in month or so.  I'll finally have a garage to be a work space of my own.  That's exciting.

Right now it's parked under a tarp outside because the shop here is full of my father in law's building tools and one of my brother's Miatas that we've been working on.

Yesterday we rolled it off the trailer (Thanks, Patrick for taking the time to drop it off, that was awesome) I covered it up in case it rained, and then hopped in a borrowed Transit van to go help move my grandma into a memory care facility.  It's been a heck of a weekend.  Today I poked around the car for a bit to see what I've gotten myself into and have been delving into the internet, trying to learn more about old Toyotas.

Patrick
Patrick GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
5/4/22 8:31 a.m.

It was nice meeting you, and turns out the hissing i heard unloading wasn't the leaky toyota LR tire but a punctured LR trailer tire.  

NOHOME
NOHOME MegaDork
5/4/22 9:03 a.m.

Because that tarp really does not communicate the what is under it, I will post this here so people can relate to how awesome this is.

 

78CobraII
78CobraII New Reader
5/4/22 9:18 a.m.

In reply to NOHOME :

Or this:

https://www.motortrend.com/features/1968-toyota-corona-unorthadox-hot-rod/

78CobraII
78CobraII New Reader
5/4/22 9:29 a.m.

Or this:

https://engineswapdepot.com/?p=22805&

Both are coupes, but a sedan should look great also.

pinchvalve (Forum Supporter)
pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
5/4/22 10:23 a.m.

Old-school imports are super cool! Good luck with the project, old engines are great to work on, rust repair sucks. Sucks hard. 

johndej
johndej Dork
5/4/22 10:48 a.m.

Is that the one that was for sale here earlier? If so, I definitely made some enabling posts the first time it came up and happy to see you move forward with it!

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ UltimaDork
5/4/22 10:51 a.m.

Allow me to be the first to say that if it's too rusty to save you should hat-car it over an SC430 chassis.

ian sane
ian sane GRM+ Memberand Dork
5/4/22 10:54 a.m.

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

Is the sc430 chassis small enough? Or would that be a big ol' meaty flare situation?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ UltimaDork
5/4/22 10:56 a.m.

In reply to ian sane :

It'd put the wheels way out at the corners, much flare required.

ian sane
ian sane GRM+ Memberand Dork
5/4/22 11:16 a.m.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:

In reply to ian sane :

It'd put the wheels way out at the corners, much awesome required.

Fixed.

Recon1342
Recon1342 SuperDork
5/4/22 1:59 p.m.

Follow dot-   
 

 

                                         .

californiamilleghia
californiamilleghia UltraDork
5/4/22 2:06 p.m.

We fixed one for my Mom years ago ,
it had a crashed rear fender , we found another fender and fixed it ,

She drove it for years !

Great solid built cars

BlueInGreen - Jon
BlueInGreen - Jon UltraDork
5/4/22 2:34 p.m.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:

Allow me to be the first to say that if it's too rusty to save you should hat-car it over an SC430 chassis.

Something like that probably isn't out of the question if it's too far gone.

I do like old cars with big flares.

Robbie (Forum Supporter)
Robbie (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
5/4/22 3:55 p.m.

AWESOME

BlueInGreen - Jon
BlueInGreen - Jon UltraDork
5/4/22 7:23 p.m.

Let's see what I've gotten myself into!

It will need floors.

BlueInGreen - Jon
BlueInGreen - Jon UltraDork
5/4/22 7:26 p.m.

There's an engine in there and the hood is hinged at the front, which I think is super cool.



 

The sill and rocker on the driver side is pretty solid.

Passenger side not so much.

BlueInGreen - Jon
BlueInGreen - Jon UltraDork
5/4/22 7:36 p.m.

My first step will be uncovering all the rust and making the decision to attempt saving the chassis, or use the body panels for a body swap or something like Deadskunk's Corolla project.

As far as rust goes I'm not sure what the line is between "a lot of work" and "too far gone." I have a secret weapon though: its name is "Kevin." One of the guys I work with is an old school fabricator/mechanic/fixer of things. I've learned more from working with him than I have the rest of my life combined. I'll see what he thinks and then go from there.

Robbie (Forum Supporter)
Robbie (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
5/4/22 11:17 p.m.

The line between not a lot of rust and too far gone depends heavily on how replaceable the body is. 

Could you buy a rust free body for $2k? (Like MGBs for example) Then that means any more than 20-40 hours of metal work and you're better off buying. But if a rust free one is worth millions, then obviously yours is not very rusty!

Of course, if you want to learn, then that all goes out the window anyway, and you roll up your sleeves.

Shavarsh
Shavarsh Reader
5/4/22 11:58 p.m.

I seriously considered calling on this one when it was available, super cool looking. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it! 

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
5/5/22 7:56 a.m.

SC430 Running gear idea is cool but I'll bet Miata running gear is more the correct size and likely still a little larger than it is. 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ UltimaDork
5/5/22 7:58 a.m.

I'm sure you're right, the picture in my head is more Khyzyl Saleem than it is restomod.

Patrick
Patrick GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
5/5/22 8:23 a.m.

I know where an LS430 donor could be had in Michigan for the princely sum of $10.  I turned it down Tuesday

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